Policy & Resources should find a way of making GST acceptable

The hospital project is fully planned and costed and ready to continue, so to dismiss a willing and competent contractor at this stage must surely be a very questionable decision.

Whereas the education development has not even completed detailed planning, let alone tenders issued or contracts signed. Nor is it known whether a suitable contractor will be available to take on this large project when the time comes. As to the final cost it can only be guessed at.

Both projects are highly desirable but very expensive, many millions, perhaps hundreds of millions of pounds, so P&R was right to scale back spending to something we can afford. Any further thought of the renewal of the east coast and harbour can be dismissed for the time being.

However, both projects and perhaps others could be considered if the States had not ignored the forecasts of P&R with regard to the forthcoming shortage of funds. It is P&R’s duty to keep the island solvent and increase our reserves and to do this they proposed to introduce GST.

Any new tax is always unwelcome but the Assembly, typically, left the whole problem of keeping us afloat to a future administration without putting forward an alternative solution.

So, in the absence of any other ideas, P&R should find a way of making GST more acceptable, perhaps by leaving out basic foods and then put the proposal forward again. This will make them very unpopular, but they were not elected to be popular, so while they are at it why not bring in paid parking to raise more funds. This is perhaps the only place in the UK which ignores that source of revenue.

Now is the time to face our lack of income and shortage of funds, we can’t afford to kick it into the long grass.

B Mauger

St Peter Port